Chichester to Bognor missing out Barnham on a rail replacement bus

[infobleep]

I have a period return ticket that is valid via Barnham and tomorrow I need to head to Bognor. Just a signal journey to Bognor as I will be collected.

Usually I would just buy a single or return from Barnham to Bognor, having changed trauns at Barnham. However, there is engineering works tomorrow and direct buses are running from Chichester to Bognor.

Usually with two off peak tickets your train needs to stop at the station where you switch tickets, unless one is a season ticket. Is that necessary tomorrow? Do I still need to take a bus to Barnham or buy a single from Chichester to Barnham?

I've chosen not to name the ticket that allows travel via Barnham.

 

[MrJeeves]

By the definition of the rules, yes. But if I were you, I'd just wing it and buy the single on the day.

If in doubt, you could always ask at the station, but I think it's unlikely you'd be ticket checked for rail replacement and staff would probably just tell you to take the quicker bus to Bognor to get where you need to be.

I've only had my ticket "checked" (I waved my smartcard in front of them and they nodded me through!) for RRBs once before and that was at Brighton before joining the queue.

 

[infobleep]

By the definition of the rules, yes. But if I were you, I'd just wing it and buy the single on the day.

If in doubt, you could always ask at the station, but I think it's unlikely you'd be ticket checked for rail replacement and staff would probably just tell you to take the quicker bus to Bognor to get where you need to be.

I've only had my ticket "checked" (I waved my smartcard in front of them and they nodded me through!) for RRBs once before and that was at Brighton before joining the queue.

Thanks for the reply. I will consider asking at the ticket office. I generally like to play by the rules because I do use the rules to my advantage at times.

It is £2.30 from Barnham to Bognor and £4.00 from Chichester to Bognor. This is singles with a third off.

 

[JonathanH]

Thanks for the reply. I will consider asking at the ticket office. I generally like to play by the rules because I do use the rules to my advantage at times.

There is an element of pragmatism that may apply here though.

The reason the tickets are 'via Barnham' is essentially because it is the point on the south coast where all flows must pass through when going east to west. 'Via Chichester' might have been better, as a more significant place, but Barnham is the junction.

All trains terminate at Littlehampton tomorrow and restart at Chichester. There are bus routes from Littlehampton to Chichester via Bognor Regis, and via Barnham, the first of which doesn't match the railway geography. (There is also Bognor Regis to Barnham.) I don't think through passengers would be penalised for using the bus via Bognor Regis rather than the bus via Barnham. In either case they are using the South Coast route, which is what 'via Barnham' is in place for.

Buying an extra ticket from Barnham to Bognor Regis to justify ending the journey at Bognor Regis doesn't really seem necessary, but if you feel that the railway is losing revenue from you, maybe it is appropriate.

 

[infobleep]

There is an element of pragmatism that may apply here though.

The reason the tickets are 'via Barnham' is essentially because it is the point on the south coast where all flows must pass through when going east to west. 'Via Chichester' might have been better, as a more significant place, but Barnham is the junction.

All trains terminate at Littlehampton tomorrow and restart at Chichester. There are bus routes from Littlehampton to Chichester via Bognor Regis, and via Barnham, the first of which doesn't match the railway geography. (There is also Bognor Regis to Barnham.) I don't think through passengers would be penalised for using the bus via Bognor Regis rather than the bus via Barnham. In either case they are using the South Coast route, which is what 'via Barnham' is in place for.

Buying an extra ticket from Barnham to Bognor Regis to justify ending the journey at Bognor Regis doesn't really seem necessary, but if you feel that the railway is losing revenue from you, maybe it is appropriate.

Thanks for the reply. Well my ticket isn't a via Barnham one. Just that travelling via Barnham is a valid route.

I always needed a ticket from Barnham to Bognor, which I would have purchased. It's just that the bus skips Barnham by being direct.

 

[JonathanH]

Thanks for the reply. Well my ticket isn't a via Barnham one. Just that travelling via Barnham is a valid route.

I always needed a ticket from Barnham to Bognor, which I would have purchased. It's just that the bus skips Barnham by being direct.

So, it is valid on the Chichester to Littlehampton via Bognor bus then? Arent you then just stopping short on a valid route?

 

[MrJeeves]

So, it is valid on the Chichester to Littlehampton via Bognor bus then? Arent you then just stopping short on a valid route?

Although we know nothing about the ticket here other than it's valid from somewhere west of Chichester to somewhere east of Chichester, travelling via Barnham, I am now in agreement that no additional ticket is needed.



If it was, say, Nutbourne to Horsham, you'd change at Chichester for the RRB to Littlehampton that just happens to travel via Bognor. You could break your journey at Bognor before then continuing towards Littlehampton and on to Horsham.

If the ticket was explicitly routed via Barnham (which it has been clarified it isn't) then it wouldn't be permitted to do this as you don't pass through Barnham.

 

[infobleep]

So, it is valid on the Chichester to Littlehampton via Bognor bus then? Arent you then just stopping short on a valid route?

I didn't actually look up the full timetable, just the journey planner.

I hasn't consider my ticket was valid via Littlehampton but I now understand it is. Fascinating.